URI puts on Putnam County Spelling Bee

KINGSTON, R.I. (FOX Providence) - How do you spell talent? If you get a chance to catch a performance of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee playing now through December 13th, you'll find it's spelled URI.

While the title tells you the plot, the play is character driven. The six adolescents in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser. The play’s music and lyrics were written by William Finn and the book by Rachel Sheinkin.

Admission is $18 for the general public, $14 for senior citizens and URI faculty/staff and $12 for students. Tickets can be purchased by calling 401.874.5843 beginning November 23 or online at www.uri.edu/theatre .

The show’s Tony Award-winning creative team created the unlikeliest of musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time. “The lovably, entirely adorable new musical….Spelling Bee is, in essence, A Chorus Line with pimples.” – The New York Times.

The play will be performed in the Robert E. Will Theatre, Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus. It runs Dec. 3 through 5 and Dec. 10 through 12 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 at 2 p.m., and Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 at 3 p.m.

The Sunday, Dec. 12 performance is dedicated to the memory of Thomas R. Pezzullo, a former vice president for University Relations at URI and frequent actor who died in 1992 at the age of 49. All proceeds from that performance will go directly to the Thomas R. Pezzullo Memorial Scholarship Fund. The Theatre Department was pleased to award scholarships from the fund this year to Alyssa Opishinski of East Greenwich and Jennifer Michaels of Stonington, Conn.

ADDED ATTRACTION: To add to the enjoyment of the play, celebrity spellers will participate in the performances. Here’s the line-up so far:

Dec. 3: Tom Dougan, URI vice president for Student Affairs
Dec. 4: TBA
Dec. 5: Larry Bonoff, donor, former general manager of The Warwick
Musical Theatre “The Tent,’ at 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 5: 2 p.m. - Frank O'Donnell, R.I. comedy legend as Santa Claus
Dec. 6: 3 p.m. - Charlie Hall of the Ocean State Follies
Dec. 10: Shawn Tempesta, co-host, The Rhode Show
Dec. 11: Marc Archambault, broker and managing partner, Randall Realtors
Thorr Bjorn, URI Director of Athletics
Dec. 12: A member of the Pezzullo family and Winnie Brownell, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dec. 12: 7:30 p.m. - Gene Valicenti from WJAR-TV10
Dec 13: 3 p.m. Karen Adams and Tony Petrarca, WPRI-TV12

Three audience members will be selected at each performance to go up on the stage and spell with the actors. Anyone interested in being considered as a speller should arrive early to fill out a card in the lobby. Audience members, says director McGlasson, should come with a sense of humor and competition.

Members of the casts, their characters, and hometowns are:

Cast A
Name, Character, Hometown
Andrew Burnap, Chip Tolentino, Wakefield
Autumn Gillette, Marcy Parks, Manchester, Mass.
Benjamin Grills, William Barfée, Ashaway
JonPaul Rainville, Leaf Coneybear, West Kingston
Betsy Rinaldi, Logan Schwartzandgrubenniere, Coventry
Ben Rose, Douglas Panch, Charlestown
Micah Tougas, Olive Ostrovsky, West Kingston
Kathyrn Travers, Rona Piretti, Franklin, Mass.
Kyle Viverito, Mitch Mahoney, Merrick, N.Y.

Cast B
Name, Character, Hometown
Jimmy Calitri, Mitch Mahoney, Wakefield
Cory Crew, Chip Tolentino, Putnam, N.Y.
Jesse Dufault, William Barfée, Narragansett
Melanie Kane, Rona Piretti, Exeter
Jennifer Michaels, Marcy Park, Stonington, Conn.
Stephanie Morgan, Olive Ostrovsky, Westfield, Mass.
Michael Puppi, Douglas Panch, Narragansett
Johnny Sederquist, Leaf Coneybear, Middleboro, Mass.
Talia Triangolo, Logan Schwartzandgrubenniere, Providence